West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Turned and now going back onto shed. 1610.

 

http://www.wsr.org.uk/4110-appeal-2018.pdf.....
What next?

 

When you think the story ends ,
It’s yet to begun,
Like a trip gone wrong,
It goes on and on and on and on.

 

Would it not be possible to channel this appeal through the WSRA, and thus benefit from Gift Aid?

Sent from my Lenovo TAB 2 A10-70F using Tapatalk

 

There is, or was, an joint appeal between the PLC and WSRA, to fund raise for three locos that need restoration. I do not believe this got a great deal of financial support: it seemed to be a half hearted affair.
I guess selling 4110 is a way of raising money quickly which does emphasise the situation mentioned in previous posts a while ago.
It is a pity that this is the way forward but I am sure it is the better way as far as the PLC is concerned. I can understand the motives by those who wish to take this loco on, but one wonders how many years it will be before it steams again.

 

"...In order for these challenges to be corrected the WSR plc requires significant sums of working capital to be raised quickly."

As they are looking to raise the funds by the end of January I wonder if this is just ongoing costs to run the railway or if some part of those 'challenges' relate to the ORR visit where corrective action(s?) have to be carried out quickly? I note that there still has been no announcement of the details of what the ORR require to be done, nor even any general indication of what areas need to be addressed.

 

I think we might be, with all the goodwill, be getting carried away. What concerns me is what use the WSR could put the loco to. Is it powerful enough to pull the sort of trains that the WSR run? As I see it there is no point in saving the loco unless it will be useful to thE WSR. The WSR cannot, IMHO, afford to use funds on a speculative project.

 

Surely the Plc wouldn't have bought it in the first place if they couldn't make use of it?

 

I've been wondering what was happening to this appeal (the Locomotive Restoration Appeal) as I've seen no mention of it for some months now. According to the Appeal donation site some 57,750 pds had been donated by early this year and a further couple of hundred pounds had come in from direct online donations since. Neither the WSR plc or the WSRA seemed to be promoting it. Whilst I could support the appeal to retain 4110 I am a bit unwilling to do so until we have a full explanation of what has happened to the original appeal, and the funds raised, and why it has not been promoted by either of the sponsoring bodies for at least the last year.
Mike

 

I believe they did feel that 4110 was worthwhile, at the time it was purchased. Particularly as 4160 was out of ticket and the recriminations with the WSRA meant it was unlikely to return to the line.

 

A 41xx is eminently suitable for most WSR services as was proved by 4160 having sufficient power, water and coal capacity and being just as happy going in either direction. As it happens 4110 was a one time Taunton allocated loco and is known to have worked on the WSR route in BR days.

 

Fair comment - it'd be useful to know how that Fund will deal with a change of ownership of 4110. But that is not the urgent matter. One thing is clear, it seems the Plc has decided to sell 4110. The noble efforts by the group of footplate/shed staff to buy the loco - a most suitable type for the WSR - is to be applauded and supported. That group will clearly design their structures to what they consider is best. Funding for restoration from the Fund and/or other sources might still be possible, but for the present time, I believe we are talking about purchase within a very tight timescale. Hence "urgent". (Disclaimer: I am not part of the group)

Steve

 

The was a pannier on the WSR at one time, but it was sold to the SDR because it wasn't powerful enough.

One problem I see with 4110 being owned by a private owning group is that when in 10/15 or so years time when it's been restored to running order will the WSR plc want to hire it? The owners will need the loco to earn some money to pay for its maintenance, they may on the other hand be prepared to let the plc use it on the basis that the plc has free use of the loco but is responsible for it's maintenance. But would the plc agree to that?

 

If the PLC spend money on hire fees for locos the best set-up (without question) is that most locos would be owned by a supporting charity who then hire the locos to the PLC. The hire fees paid remain in the “railway family” and are used to pay for loco numbers 2 or loco 3 etc so you have a rolling programme.

As we have seen with 4160, locos with a private consortium may not be guaranteed for the long term.

Nevertheless I wish the proposed consortium well and hope that the WSR will have a 41xx available to it in the future, they are ideal locos for the line.

Regards

Matt

 

Odney Manor at Blue Anchor on train a few minutes ago

Steve B

 

So the PLC will be better off by £100k when the loco gets sold. I wonder what percent of any monies required is will cover? The method used by a lot of companies to save money is by redundancy of positions.
I think the sale of assets was spoken about a short time ago, as well as redundancies.
Will the PLC take over the day to day running of the Swindon shed?
I wonder if the Railway will become a slimmer, more commercial enterprise?
2019 could prove to be a profound year.

 

How many fully loaded coaches can it haul? Historic use may not be relevant. If it can’t haul a normal size train that the WSR runs then that suggests it is not suitable. IMHO the decision needs to be made on hard facts and not emotion.

 

4160 was widely seen as successful on the line by all accounts, so why do you think 4110 would not be able to haul a “normal size train”?

Tom

 

You seem determined to prove that this loco won't be suitable for the line, despite an identical class member being in regular use up until a couple of years ago.